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    PolarDB:Billing methods

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    PolarDB:Billing methods

    Last Updated:Nov 28, 2024

    PolarDB supports the subscription, pay-as-you-go, and serverless billing methods to meet your business requirements in different scenarios.

    Scenarios

    Billing method

    Scenario

    Subscription

    • Predictable resource usage duration

    • Heavy workloads that have infrequent and small fluctuations

    Pay-as-you-go

    • Unpredictable resource usage duration

    • Temporary, sudden, and unpredictable workloads

    • Light workloads that have infrequent and small fluctuations

    Serverless

    • Individual developers

    • Limited use of databases in scenarios such as test and development environments

    • Inconsistent and unpredictable workloads in scenarios such as IoT and edge computing

    • Fluctuating and unpredictable workloads or business scenarios

    Comparison analysis

    Item

    Subscription

    Pay-as-you-go

    Serverless

    Payment type

    Subscription (prepaid)

    Note

    Specific billable items can be billed only based on the pay-as-you-go billing method. For more information, see Billable items.

    Pay-as-you-go (postpaid)

    Pay-as-you-go (postpaid)

    Compute node type

    Fixed specifications

    Fixed specifications

    Dynamically scaled specifications

    Billing cycle

    Billed based on the subscription duration.

    Charged per second and billed on an hourly basis

    Charged per second and billed on an hourly basis

    Applicable resource plans

    Switching of the billing method

    Can be switched to the pay-as-you-go billing method.

    Note

    The switching rules vary based on the database edition. For more information, see Switch between billing methods.

    Can be switched to the subscription billing method.

    Note

    The switching rules vary based on the database edition. For more information, see Switch between billing methods.

    Not supported

    Combination with storage plans (recommended)

    If the following conditions exist, you can use storage plans for your cluster:

    • The storage billing method is pay-as-you-go.

    • The backup storage exceeds the free quota.

    • Cold data archiving is enabled and performed.

    You can also evaluate whether to use storage plans based on the application scenarios and benefits of storage plans described in the following table.

    Item

    Description

    Storage usage that storage plans can offset

    • Cluster storage usage:

      • PL0, PL1, PL2, PL3, and AutoPL ESSD storage usage

      • PSL4 and PSL5 storage usage

      Note

      Only the cluster storage usage of clusters that use the pay-as-you-go storage billing method can be offset by storage plans.

    • Backup storage usage beyond the free quota:

      • Storage usage of level-1 backups beyond the free quota

      • Storage usage of level-2 backups

      • Storage usage of log backups beyond the free quota

    • Object Storage Service (OSS) storage usage of cold data archiving

    Scenarios

    • Multiple applicable clusters

      Multiple clusters for which storage plans can be used exist in the applicable regions in your Alibaba Cloud account.

    • Large storage usage

      The total storage usage of all clusters for which storage plans can be used in the applicable regions in the Alibaba Cloud account is large.

      For example, if your storage usage is greater than or equal to 1,000 GB, storage plans can be more cost-effective than the pay-as-you-go storage billing method. The larger the capacity of a storage plan, the greater the discount. For information about the prices of storage plans, see Prices.

    Benefits

    • Cost-effective

      If your Enterprise Edition cluster uses the pay-as-you-go storage billing method, combining the pay-as-you-go storage billing method with storage plans is more cost-effective than using only the pay-as-you-go billing method. The discount rate provided by a storage plan varies based on the storage capacity and validity period of the storage plan. The discount rate can reach 45%, compared with the pay-as-you-go storage billing method.

    • Flexible

      If you select the pay-as-you-go storage billing method when you purchase an Enterprise Edition cluster, you do not need to specify a storage capacity. The storage capacity automatically scales up as the amount of data increases. You are charged based on your actual storage usage.

    • Extensive coverage

      The storage plans can be used to offset the storage usage of all applicable clusters in the specified regions in your Alibaba Cloud account. Storage plans are classified into the following types: one type for regions in the Chinese mainland and one type for the China (Hong Kong) region and regions outside China.

    Best practices

    Change the specifications

    If you change the specifications of a cluster, the system calculates the related fees based on the billing method of the cluster and the changes. For more information, see Change the specifications.

    Billing method

    Billing for specifications change

    Subscription

    After you change the specifications of your cluster, the system calculates the related fees based on the changes.

    • When you upgrade or add nodes, the system calculates the fees that you are required to pay.

    • When you downgrade or delete nodes, the system calculates the refund.

    Pay-as-you-go

    After you change the specifications of your cluster, you are charged on an hourly basis based on the price of the new specifications.

    Serverless

    You cannot change the specifications of your cluster. Compute node resources are automatically adjusted based on the business loads.

    Expiration or overdue payments

    Service interruptions may occur when a cluster expires or a payment becomes overdue. The system notifies you of these issues at the earliest opportunity. When you receive the notifications, we recommend that you immediately add funds to your Alibaba Cloud account or renew the cluster to prevent service interruptions. For more information, see Expiration or overdue payments.

    FAQ

    Why do I still receive bills after I purchase a subscription cluster?

    The issue may be caused by one of the following reasons:

    The preceding billable items are billed based on the pay-as-you-go billing method. The fees are generated based on the storage usage and data retention period. For information about how to view the bills, see View your bills.

    Why do I still receive bills after I release or unsubscribe from my cluster?

    This issue may be caused by one of the following reasons:

    • The PolarDB cluster has pay-as-you-go billable items for which billing is delayed. As a result, bills are still generated even after you release or unsubscribe from the PolarDB cluster.

      • Subscription clusters have pay-as-you-go billable items. For example, if the storage billing method of a subscription cluster is pay-as-you-go, the generated storage bills are delayed.

      • The bills generated for pay-as-you-go clusters are delayed.

        Note

        You can view the generated pay-as-you-go bills of your cluster in the PolarDB console. For more information, see View your bills.

    • If you set the backup policy to When the cluster is released, the cluster data is automatically backed up, and the latest backup set is retained for a long period of time, fees are generated for backups that are retained for a long period of time even after you release for unsubscribe from the cluster. To avoid the preceding costs, delete the backup sets from the recycle bin. For more information, see Delete a released cluster.

    How is a serverless cluster billed?

    A serverless cluster is billed based on the average number of PolarDB Capacity Units (PCUs) consumed per second within the billing period. For more information, see Billing rules for compute nodes of a serverless cluster.

    Do serverless clusters have a cost-saving solution for computing and storage costs?

    No resource plans are available to offset compute node costs. However, you can use storage plans to offset storage costs. For more information, see the “Combination with storage plans“ section of this topic.

    How do I migrate a non-serverless cluster (subscription or pay-as-you-go cluster) to a serverless cluster?

    You can migrate a non-serverless cluster to a serverless cluster by using Data Transmission Service (DTS). For more information, see Migrate data between PolarDB for MySQL clusters.

    Can I upgrade a non-serverless cluster (subscription or pay-as-you-go cluster) to a serverless cluster?

    You can enable the serverless feature for a non-serverless cluster (subscription or pay-as-you-go cluster). For more information, see Enable the serverless feature for a cluster with defined specifications.